Educational authorities of most countries, including those of Colombia, typically associate the quality of education with the teacher's role. The teacher then is conceived as a fundamental actor in an educational process and as such assembles and directly transmits pertinent knowledge. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with recent educational reforms and programs associated with teacher training in Colombia; the second part is a survey that was designed to assess teacher needs in Colombia and the extent to which the faculties of education are currently meeting those needs. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from Universidad de La Sabana (a private institution) and was sponsored by this university and by ASPAEN (The Association for Teaching.) (Contains 8 tables and 5 notes.)